“WHEN I TALK ABOUT DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST, I’M NOT LOOKING AT VENEZUELA. I’M NOT LOOKING AT CUBA. I’M LOOKING AT COUNTRIES LIKE DENMARK AND SWEDEN.”1
– BERNIE SANDERS
For millions of Americans, nothing screams “utopia” quite like Sweden—happy, smiling faces, delicious meatballs, and cheap furniture as far as the eye can see. What a country! But not a week goes by without some socialist snake-oil salesman proudly exclaiming Sweden and other Scandinavian countries offer the rest of the world a blueprint to a bright, beautiful, collectivist future.
For example, America’s king of peddling socialist poison, comrade Bernie Sanders, often points to Scandinavia as his primary proof of socialism’s grand potential. In the run-up to the 2016 presidential election, ABC’s George Stephanopoulos asked Sanders whether he thought a self-described “democratic socialist” could get elected in a traditionally capitalism-loving country like America. In response, Sanders said, “Well, so long as we know what democratic socialism is. And if we know that in countries, in Scandinavia, like Denmark, Norway, Sweden, they are very democratic countries, obviously.”2
Yes, it’s true Scandinavians love their democracy, but socialism—eh, that’s a completely different story. Although Nordic Europeans have at times in the past embraced and adopted some socialist policies and programs—just like Americans have—they have largely maintained their market economies. Scandinavian “socialism” is really just free-market economics with social safety nets underneath, virtually the same as what we have in the United States. In fact, when it comes
to regulations, certain educational reforms, government spending, and other policies, Scandinavians are freer than many Americans.
I know, I know—this probably all sounds like a crazy right-wing conspiracy, but it’s true. Scandinavians aren’t socialists, at least not in any meaningful sense of the term. But don’t take my word for it. Listen to what Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen has to say. He is, after all, just a little more Scandinavian than Brooklyn-born Bernie Sanders.
In 2015, during a speech at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, Rasmussen noted, “Some people in the U.S. associate the Nordic model with some sort of socialism. Therefore, I would like to make one thing clear: Denmark is far from a socialist planned economy. Denmark is a market economy.”3
For those of you who aren’t fluent with Danish political-speak, allow me to translate: “Hey Bernie, stop calling us socialists.”
Since Rasmussen shut down any notion of Denmark as a “socialist” country, Sanders and numerous other American socialists have repeatedly claimed the opposite is true, including during the 2020 presidential campaign. Now, I know Bernie Sanders looks like a crazy old man who should be feeding pigeons at the park—not the guy in charge of the nuclear launch codes—but even he should know by now that Scandinavians aren’t socialists. So why are he and other socialists like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez spending so much time raving about the alleged “successes” of Nordic socialism?
American socialists don’t just desperately want Scandinavians to be a shining example of socialism, they need it to be true. The history of socialism is soaked in blood, racism, and economic chaos. Almost everywhere it has ever been tried, people have had their rights stolen away. In many cases, they have been enslaved and butchered. In light of the horrifying, bloody history of socialism and communism, socialists need something, anything that they can point to as a success story. So, they’re betting on you being gullible enough not to fact-check them when they swear that Sweden is a socialist Magic Kingdom.
So, what’s a good socialist to do when he or she finds out the Scandinavian socialism fairy tale that’s been endlessly told to a whole generation of wide-eyed socialists isn’t true? Continue telling the lie, of course. In the minds of many socialists, it’s better to have your facts wrong but your heart in the right place than it is to be a truth-telling capitalist pig. (The ends always justify the means, remember?)
But let’s spend a few seconds to drink the Bernie Kool-Aid—which, let me warn you, may seem sweet at first, but eventually starts tasting like my grandfather’s prune juice mixed with Metamucil. Even if Nordic nations really were the bastions of collectivism so many attendees at Democratic Socialists of America conventions argue they are, what makes socialists think you can impose a system working in a tiny, highly homogeneous part of the world on one of the largest, freest, most diverse nations in the history of humanity? Arrogance.
Denmark has a population of less than 6 million. Norway also has less than 6 million citizens. Combined, these two countries have a population that’s only a little larger than the Chicago Metropolitan Area and half the size of New York City’s metro. In fact, America has at least 20 states with populations comparable to or larger than Denmark or Sweden.
Have you ever tried making dinner plans with six friends? You might have some difficulties, sure. Maybe someone has a gluten allergy or something but usually, most people can agree on a single restaurant without bloodshed. But can you imagine making dinner plans with 327 strangers? What a nightmare. Most people are flexible, but undoubtedly, you’ll have to work around a number of people’s unique needs. Pete can’t go to the nearby seafood place because of a shellfish allergy. Maria is banned from Applebee’s for having one too many drinks at her company’s most recent Christmas party. Eight more people are vegan, seven are on a paleo diet—whatever the heck that is—and four are pescatarian. And don’t forget about Steve. He has an irrational fear of kangaroos, so Outback Steakhouse would trigger him. I guess that’s out too. The more people involved, the more diverse the group and the more difficult it is to design a night (or economy) that pleases everyone. (And God help the waiter who has to split the check.)
And that’s just population. There are also significant differences related to culture, racial diversity, religion, immigration, and diet. (Good luck finding a Twinkie in Sweden!)
So, not only are Scandinavian countries decidedly not socialist utopias, they also make for extremely bad comparisons. But, I doubt our socialist friend will listen to me (or the Scandinavians themselves), at least not first without saying something like …
So, you’re saying Danish prime minister Rasmussen was confused, lying, or just plain wrong when he said, “I would like to make one thing clear: Denmark is far from a socialist planned economy”?
Let’s take a careful look at the facts.
In the Heritage Foundation’s 2019 Index of Economic Freedom, Heritage researchers ranked Iceland 11th in economic freedom, followed by Denmark at 14th, Sweden at 19th, and Finland at 20th.4 The United States ranked 12th in 2019 and 18th in 2018.
Yes, you read that correctly. Over the past two years, the conservative Heritage Foundation says people in Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland have a comparable amount or more economic freedom than Americans do.
Additionally, Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Norway, and Sweden all scored higher than the United States in Heritage’s “Business Freedom,” “Fiscal Health,” and “Government Integrity” rankings,5 and every Scandinavian country scored higher than the United States in Heritage’s “Property Rights” category, too.
Does this sound like socialism to you? A high level of business freedom, responsible government spending practices, a low level of corruption, and strong property rights protections? Wait, don’t answer that question. I’ve got more.
Perhaps most telling of all, prior to the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in 2017, the corporate tax rates in Scandinavia were considerably lower than the U.S. corporate rate. Have you ever met a socialist who didn’t want to dramatically increase taxes on corporations? Looking at you, Liz Warren. And even after slashing its corporate rate from 35 percent to 21 percent in 2017, the United States still has a higher corporate tax rate than the one enjoyed by corporations in two Scandinavian countries—Finland (20 percent) and Iceland (20 percent)—and a rate that’s only slightly lower than most of the other Scandinavian nations.6
